ROTTEN TOMATOES: Five Favorite Films with Chuck Palahniuk

Five Favorite Films with Chuck Palahniuk

The Fight Club author shares some killer movie faves and an exclusive clip from Choke.

by Jen Yamato | September 22, 2008

Bestselling author Chuck Palahniuk burst onto Hollywood's radar when his psychological novel, Fight Club, was adapted into a major motion picture directed by David Fincher; the resulting film became every American male's aggro-fantasy ("The first rule of fight club is, you don't talk about fight club.") This month, the Palahniuk touch returns to cinemas via Choke, a raunchy and delightfully vulgar adaptation of his novel about a sex addict (Sam Rockwell) who cons people using the Heimlich maneuver.

Chuck Palahniuk took time to share his Five Favorite Films with RT. The results were morbid, to say the least. In no particular order, here are Chuck's five favorites!

Harold and Maude (1971, 86% Tomatometer)

Ruth Gordon was so much more than Garson Kanin's beard. With music by Cat Stevens... as a motorcycle cop... this movie satisfies on so many levels. Death and sex have never been so beautifully linked together. This film is Love Story for the rest of us.

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969, 83% Tomatometer)

Once again, we see sex and death wed like chocolate and peanut butter. Jane Fonda looks like the angel of bitter, angry suicide girls before such girls were ever born. Bruce Dern plays the psycho hillbilly we loved him playing in 'The Big Valley' on television. Gig Young claws his way to the bottom of the bottom-feeders, winning the Oscar just before his own real-life suicide. Here's my favorite "date movie" of all time.

Alien (1979, 97% Tomatometer)

Do I really need to explain this? Except for the weird disco typeface spelling out "nostromo" on everyone's uniform, this film seems timeless.

Session 9 (2001, 60% Tomatometer)

Again, everybody dies. That is such the best, most-great formula for a true masterpiece film. A classic film should leave you thinking, "How in the hell did this idea ever get financing?" The director, Brad Anderson, does more with his small budget than most movies do with huge, fat mountains of cash. The moment the credits start to roll, I want to watch the whole story over again.

Sunset Blvd (1950, 100% Tomatometer)

Everybody ends up dead or insane-slash-arrested. Nancy Olson is dismissed to wed Jack Webb -- the real off-screen horror ending. Every performance is outlandish, as big as anything on any Mexican soap opera. The dead monkey. Buster Keaton. The fun never ends. The best noir comedy, ever.

But wait, there's more! We've got an exclusive clip from Choke for our RT readers, featuring Sam Rockwell as Victor and Anjelica Huston as his deranged mother, Ida.

Click above to watch the exclusive clip!

Click to check out the latest reviews, images, and trailers from Choke.

Related Items

Movie:	Harold and Maude
	They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
	Alien
	Session 9
	Sunset Boulevard

(1-20 of 39 posts) | Reply

Mister_Prophet writes:
on Sep 22 2008 05:58 PM

I think an automatic requirement for anyone to be awesome is to have Alien on their all-time best movie list.

(Reply to this)

tomwaitsjr writes:
on Sep 22 2008 06:07 PM

That clip was boring. All the other clips I have seen, especially the red band, have been Hysterical! Unfortunately CHOKE is opening in only 400 theaters this coming week-end, none near me.

I wish there was a spoiler mention for Session 9, haven't seen it yet, it's on my queue. But, what are the odds?

I've never seen Sunset Boulevard, I always thought it was probably a chick flic, maybe I'll check it out now. I've also never seen "they shoot horses. . ."

I loved the film "Fight Club," But I wish it had maintained the ending that was in the book. No idea why they had to change it like that. . .

(Reply to this)

Spermian Jones writes:
on Sep 22 2008 07:53 PM

Where is Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2? What about Jurassic Park and The Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight?

(Reply to this)

Brad 3000 writes:
on Sep 22 2008 08:32 PM

Woo Hoo! Way to go giving props to Session 9. It is one of the best horror movies of the last 15 years and doesn't get nearly enough recognition.

(Reply to this)

tomwaitsjr writes:
on Sep 22 2008 09:06 PM

Rockwell is a fascinating actor. I just saw him do an amazing job in the #$#$ film Snow Angels. As great as he was in it, still, stay away. . .

(Reply to this)

reapermad writes:
on Sep 22 2008 09:09 PM

Chuck is a GOD! The greatest novelist of the new era! Spermian Jones needs help. Poor bastard thinks this is the top five of Chuck Norris. Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2? What about Jurassic Park and The Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight? You really don't know who Chuck Palahniuk is. Pick up a freakin' book once in a while you retard!

(Reply to this)

reapermad writes:
on Sep 22 2008 09:10 PM

....not that any of those movies are bad, it's just not a Palahniuk list. Read who's list you're reading before leaving a comment.

(Reply to this)

mrmister writes:
on Sep 22 2008 09:30 PM

"Chuck is a GOD! The greatest novelist of the new era! Spermian Jones needs help."

reapermad... he was clearly joking. I would hope that someone who read chuck palahniuk would at least be able to pick up on sarcasm if nothing else. p.s. palahniuks not that great.

interesting guy in some respects, and interesting list. makes me want to check out the films that I haven't seen.

(Reply to this)

digitalrelic writes:
on Sep 22 2008 09:38 PM

Love Palahniuk's books. Cool to see his movie tastes reflects my own(Session 9! Yes!).

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knowingtoast85 writes:
on Sep 22 2008 10:09 PM

I like lists with a couple of unsafe choices, but Session 9 wasn't my bag. Gory psychohorror is great, great fun to me, but I couldn't get past some of the performances. I do support the hell out of low-budget filmmaking though, so whatever else these Session 9 guys have come up with, I'll check it out.

(Reply to this)

~*Admiral Snowstorm*~ writes:
on Sep 23 2008 03:41 AM

Well, I haven't seen Session 9. Now I know everyone dies. Thanks Chuck.

Not too bad a list. I'm kind of surprised at it; if I saw it without knowing whose it was, I probably wouldn't have guessed Chuck Palahniuk. It isn't really that great, but oh well, it's at least a little more original than Dane Cook's Internet Male list of favorites.

Can't say I really like Palahniuk's books...at all. Choke was faintly funny in some parts, Fight Club was rather bad, and I don't really feel the need to read his other books since he basically makes the same book over and over. One day I may rent Invisible Monsters, since that seems to be the consensus for his best book, but eh, I have a lot of problems with his phrasing, vocabulary, and just style of writing in general (no, I don't care about the over-the-top obscene craziness that goes on; I'm no prude. I'm talking about the way he writes that stuff that bothers me). It's never a good thing when it's a chore to finish a book. I may see Choke, though. It was difficult to finish it, but the movie should go down a little more easily.

(Reply to this)

Bulletproof_Animal writes:
on Sep 23 2008 08:12 AM

"You really don't know who Chuck Palahniuk is. Pick up a freakin' book once in a while you retard!"

I want it brought to everyone's attention that sarcasm/irony does not translate well on these kinds of boards. I suggest that whoever made this nasty comment, calling someone a retard, should give the benefit of the doubt or at least ask if they're joking before coming out with crap like that.

(Reply to this)

gibbyg2001 writes:
on Sep 23 2008 08:22 AM

YES! So glad to see someone giving props to Session 9! Choke, the movie, looks awfull though. The book was amazing!

(Reply to this)

bu11et_pr00f writes:
on Sep 23 2008 11:23 AM

In reply to this comment (#2041598)
Jones, what are you, five years old? In that case, why not add AVP and Transformers?

Kids...

(Reply to this)

knowingtoast85 writes:
on Sep 23 2008 12:17 PM

I feel for you, Spermian. You made a funny sarcastic joke and you get nothing resembling reason in response.

(Reply to this)

Socio writes:
on Sep 23 2008 12:53 PM

In reply to this comment (#2041672)
You're kidding, right? I sure hope so. The spiderman movies can eat a dick. The Dark Knight should not even be in the same category as those POS movies.

(Reply to this)

jasper de large writes:
on Sep 23 2008 01:21 PM

In reply to this comment (#2041753)
knowingtoast, i don't really recall much of the gore from session 9, but it has been a good while since i sawr it.

oh, and 'these session 9 guys' would be brad anderson. check out the machinist, or if gore is your bag, maybe don't.

he's also made this year's transsiberian which is generating good reviews

(Reply to this)

Matanuki writes:
on Sep 23 2008 02:40 PM

In reply to this comment (#2041598)
Ditto, Tom. I always wondered why they changed the ending too. They also changed how the narrator met Tyler Durden, which I think was one of the few improvements the film made on the book. Nonetheless, it was a lost opportunity to insert that great line, "A moment is all anyone can ever expect from perfection." I did like the movie ending, however. But the way the book ended was far superior, closed the story on an entirely different charge. I imagine they changed it because they found it too ambiguous for a movie audience, which is a shame.

Admiral, it's too bad you haven't read more of Palahniuk's work. Haunted, for me, is probably his best. I also really enjoyed Diary and Lullaby. But Haunted, definitely, above and beyond. You're right though, his writing style is an acquired taste. But boy what a taste worth acquiring.

(Reply to this)

007 writes:
on Sep 23 2008 07:34 PM

This man is obviously evil.

Do you enjoy being evil, Chuck Palahniuk?

(Reply to this)

knowingtoast85 writes:
on Sep 23 2008 11:15 PM

Ouch, I saw The Machinist...ouch.

But Transsiberian is something I was already interested in, so I'll go see it while it's still playing down the street.

And as for the gore, I just remember some guy getting a sharp thin implement through the eyeball in Session 9 (that's not a spoiler, right?) and that's about it.

(Reply to this)

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